Chapter 5

A spring breeze drifted through the pavilion in my residence. Lüyi lay crumpled before me, trembling too hard to look up.

Xiayu stood to one side. “Who ordered you?” she demanded. “How dare you betray your mistress under her own roof!”

Lüyi shrank back, but Moyu placed a foot against her heel and smiled at me. “Your Highness, we still have some of last year’s fine charcoal. I have had it heated until it glows.”

I nodded. Xiayu brightened and pointed at Lüyi. “Pour it down the little wretch’s throat! If she will not speak, burn that mouth of hers!”

Someone carried over the burning charcoal. Heat washed over Lüyi’s face in waves, flushing her pretty cheeks before they rapidly drained white.

“Your Highness, I am innocent! I truly did not pass on your three relief measures!” I gave her a sidelong glance. Terrified as she was, she still stubbornly refused to admit it.

I smiled and lifted her chin with the toe of my shoe, forcing her to look at me.

“Who are you waiting for to save you?” I asked. “Ronghua? The emperor? The Empress Dowager?” Tilting my head, I ignored her shaking shoulders and continued, “What else did your mistress order you to do?”

She forced herself to remain calm. “I do not understand, Your Highness.”

Disgust plain on her face, Xiayu flung down a sachet. “What did you put inside this thing you hid in Her Highness’s chamber?”

At the sight of it, sweat trickled down Lüyi’s forehead.

I nudged it with my shoe. “You took such pains to hang it on my bed curtains. Breathe it long enough, and a person loses her mind. You went to some trouble to find a drug like this for me.”

When she still would not speak, I lost interest in questioning her and beckoned for the charcoal to be poured down her throat.

“Sister, what has made you so angry?” As Lüyi struggled desperately, a smiling figure walked in.

I glanced at Pei Shuangshuang. Dressed in white, she looked compassionately at the maid pinned to the ground. “Our servants work so hard for us. Whatever mistake they make, surely you might show a little understanding.”

I watched her, gently moving my round fan, and said nothing.

“This girl looks barely fourteen or fifteen,” she continued. “Must you be so cruel?”

I still said nothing, wearing a smile that was not quite a smile. Left delivering a monologue, she grew embarrassed and took it upon herself to help Lüyi up.

“Pour in the charcoal.”

My voice was cold. Moyu stepped forward to block Pei Shuangshuang’s hand. Lüyi’s hoarse screams nearly sent the princess reeling.

The guards released Lüyi. She collapsed, writhing in agony. I watched without emotion. “Take her to the capital magistrate. Tell him I found a treacherous servant in my household.”

Then I reconsidered. “No. Have my covert guards question her. They must find out who ordered her to murder me.”

Pei Shuangshuang had secretly relaxed when she thought I would send the girl to the magistrate. At the mention of my own guards, her face changed again. I saw every movement.

How could they all be so stupid?

Pei Shuangshuang was still far too inexperienced. She actually lost her footing, staggered backward, and fell straight into the lake.

When Pei Chu summoned me, I was laughing with my maids. I merely changed into another outfit and took a carriage to the palace.

“Why did you push Princess Ronghua into the lake?” His face was grim, his expression cold and hard.

I rested my chin on my hand and looked at him. He had never spoken to me this way. Perhaps he had not dared. Perhaps he had not wished to.

“You think I pushed her?” I found it amusing. “What does she amount to? If I wished to deal with her, why would I resort to a petty trick like that?”

Perhaps he remembered the past, for he fell silent.

I knew he must see through Pei Shuangshuang’s little scheme. But he had long feared me, and even something so trivial gave him a chance to call me to account and issue a warning.

I stood. “If it is only a trifle like this, Your Majesty need not waste your attention on it. With an epidemic in Jiangnan, you ought to be concentrating on that.”

Perhaps it had been too long since he had heard me lecture him. His face darkened. “Do you still think I am that ignorant little boy?”

I looked at him. “Of course not.”

Lin Mo entered the imperial study just then. He must have heard about Pei Shuangshuang’s fall, for his gaze was icy. I did not care.

On an impulse, I went to the Empress Dowager’s chambers. Her health had long been poor. Only Pei Shuangshuang’s daily visits had brought a little color back to her face.

She was leaning against a large cushion, frowning over a bowl of medicine.

“Jiayu?”

She looked a little surprised. I took a small bottle from my robes and handed it to a palace maid. “Your Majesty has always disliked bitter medicine. I brought honey pills especially for you. Taken with the medicine, they make it easier to swallow.”

Her expression cooled. “How thoughtful of you.”

She pointed to a maid. “Send them to Ronghua. She dislikes bitterness even more than I do.”

I knew this was her way of showing displeasure over my supposed act of pushing Pei Shuangshuang into the lake. I could not be bothered to respond, so I pretended not to understand.

Looking at the cushion behind her, I smiled. “You have used that cushion for years. Shall I send another in a few days?”

It had been my gift. Its firmness, pattern, and fabric suited her perfectly. It also contained a secret fragrance from the Western Regions, which made her loath to part with it.

Even my deliberate mention of it did not soften her expression. Instead, she had her personal maid bring another. “I have used this one far too long. Put it away.”

The maid smiled. “Princess Ronghua put such care into this one. She embroidered the phoenix among peonies herself to please Your Majesty.”

So the Empress Dowager had grown this impatient. She was ready to fall out with me already.

I betrayed nothing. Smiling, I rose and took my leave.

My spirits were clear and bright. Good. They would soon be begging for my help.